Venice council OKs hospital appeal

Despite warnings from their own attorney that they “were flying too high,” Venice City Council members decided narrowly Tuesday to give Venice Regional Medical Center another shot at fending off Sarasota Memorial Hospital's southward expansion.

City Attorney Robert Anderson told council members they had one simple issue before them: whether Venice Regional had legal standing to appeal a planning board's final decision to allow Sarasota Memorial to build a medical complex within the city limits.

But after listening to lawyers from both hospitals make their pitches, council members shared plenty of angst about making that call.

“This is such an unfortunate position for us to be in,” said council member Jeanette Gates. “This is all about the greater good for our community.”

Vice Mayor Bob Daniels said he felt he was being forced to pit hospital against hospital.

“I'm really struggling here,” he said.

The property, at the southeast intersection of Laurel and Pinebrook roads near Interstate 75, is one of two Sarasota Memorial projects drawing the ire of Venice residents and physicians.

Besides the medical complex, zoned for doctors' and dentists' offices, Sarasota Memorial also plans to build an urgent care center in town near Venice Regional.

More than 60 physicians in Venice signed a petition against the latter, saying it was unnecessary and complaining that Sarasota's public hospital board had not tried to determine whether it is needed.

Venice Regional lawyer Jeffery Boone said the Laurel Road complex would be the size of a Walmart superstore and woudn't serve the community's needs.

“This idea that we're trying to compete with Sarasota Memorial is a red herring,” he told council members.

That claim was greeted skeptically by council member David Sherman, who voted to deny Venice Regional's standing to appeal.

Charles Bailey, attorney for Sarasota Memorial, argued that in another case, the Florida Supreme Court set conditions for appealing a zoning decision, which he said Venice Regional did not meet.

The owner seeking to appeal has to own land close to the proposed property; Bailey noted Venice Regional is more than five miles away.

The character of the surrounding neighborhood has to be followed and the type of zoning allowed, which he said is not at issue.

And finally, the challenger has to have been determined to be a legitimate party by receiving notice under the municipality's zoning code. Venice Regional did not notified.

The city attorney reiterated those standards to the council, saying they were the crux of the decision the council faced.

But the council had concerns.

In 2006, when Sarasota Memorial first came to Venice with the plan for the medical complex, documents outlining zoning requirements were prepared.

In being transcribed, it was learned only recently, two or three pages were accidentally omitted. Some council members worried this wasn't fair to Venice Regional because it might mean the Planning Commission could have reached a different decision.

“In my entire life, I've never been asked to make a decision based on something that has missing pieces,” said Daniels. “I don't like the smell of this.”

Anderson cautioned the council against looking at other issues, but they ignored his advice, as they have in some previous controversial cases. Some of those cases have proven costly, as the city sought to defend decisions that were later overturned.

The final vote was 4-3 to allow Venice Regional to pursue its appeal, likely to be heard by the council in January.

After the meeting, Mayor John Holic said he supported the decision.

“I don't know if the missing pages would have made any difference,” he said. “But it seemed like the time to give Venice Regional standing.”